Turtle Beach Recon 70 Gaming Headset Review

Ever since online voice chat across home consoles became more prominent, Turtle Beach headsets have become a household name in the world of gaming. Recently boasting about their success in selling 30 million units since the company’s entry into the market in 2005, the masters of audiophile entertainment have allowed us to take the recently announced, Recon 70 gaming headset for a spin. If you happen to be looking for something slightly more portable for the Nintendo Switch, be sure to check out our review for the Turtle Beach Battle Buds in-ear gaming headset. Otherwise, let’s talk about whether the Recon 70 is worth the price tag that they happen to be going for.

The Recon 70 boasts 40mm speakers beneath a soft, synthetic foam-filled leather cushion for longer gaming comfort. The rest of the unit is made from a plastic that seems cheap but feels light when perched over the skull. The design itself is overall rather sleek and less bulky when compared to many other headsets out there. The cushions themselves rotate to rest flat on the collarbones and the adjustable headband has some decent leeway to help it fit. They are quite tight over the ear to ensure they stay in place, but not too pressure-inducing to where your blood supply suddenly starts to feel like it’s being cut off around the temples.

The bold red lining riding in between the black outer shell does make them quite appealing to the eye. It’s within the striking redness that Turtle Beach is marketing towards Nintendo Switch players, while the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions have their own trademark green or blue colored designs respectively. They do happen to be all the same though, regardless of which console they are marketed for. The versatile 3.5mm jack ensures flexible usage across any and all of your entertainment devices. That is, except for the important factor of connecting both a phone and the Nintendo Switch console to the headset simultaneously. With no extra leads to cater for the inconvenience of wanting to use voice chat on the Nintendo Switch, it does make the headset less useful for the console. Unless of course, you spend your time in free-to-play games such as Fortnite or Warframe where voice chat is possible through the console rather than the Nintendo Switch Online mobile app.

The rubber coated lead that connects from the headphones to the jack is sturdy but very short – standing roughly the same length as an NES Classic Edition controller. As with the controller, without any kind of adapter using the headset while playing the Switch docked will have you sitting within a kissing distance from the screen. This lead isn’t detachable either, making the headset possibly more susceptible to wire damage and a little harder to store. This is especially the case seeing as the wire is not really long enough to wrap around the headphones securely enough after use.

However, at £29.99 ($39.95) they are unlikely to feel irreplaceable. In any case, what you do get for your money’s worth is more than satisfying enough. The sound quality is incredibly decent for its price point, with a fairly good bassline and clarity that is more than adequate for the value that you’re getting these for. They do sound better than the Turtle Beach Battle Buds which isn’t too much of a surprise considering the advantage they have in being over-ear headphones. The low sitting volume wheel tucked within the underside of the left cuff also ensures that you shouldn’t knock it during gameplay, which is ideal for those small shoulder-to-ear adjustments when the hands are busy.

The hard plastic rod of the boom mic swivels nicely from its home in a vertical position to the corner of the mouth. Unfortunately, it isn’t in any way detachable for those who would be looking to wear the Recon 70 out and about. It does tuck away and blends in with the unit quite well though, and conveniently triggers a mute function when turned back towards its resting spot. More importantly, the omni-directional microphone is crisp and clear with very little background noise – more than ideal for teammates that must listen to your babble and colorful language on the receiving end.

For the price, the Turtle Beach Recon 70 packs a solid punch as a budget-tier gaming headset. However, advertising this version primarily as a Nintendo Switch product on the packaging may seem a little bit misinformative. Without any kind of splitter packed inside, you are restricted to either voice chat or audio entertainment alone to make it less useful for the slew of games currently taking advantage of the Nintendo Switch Online subscription. While the mic does tuck away quite neatly, unlike the Turtle Beach Battle Buds you’re probably not going to want to travel around town with these things strapped on your dome. For £29.99 ($39.95) though, the Turtle Beach Recon 70 headset is undeniably good value for money as long as you know exactly what you will use them for.